Fixed-Parameter Algorithms for Longest Heapable Subsequence and Maximum Binary Tree

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Fixed-Parameter Algorithms for Longest Heapable Subsequence and Maximum Binary Tree Fixed-Parameter Algorithms for Longest Heapable Subsequence and Maximum Binary Tree Karthekeyan Chandrasekaran∗ Elena Grigorescuy Gabriel Istratez Shubhang Kulkarniy Young-San Liny Minshen Zhuy November 23, 2020 Abstract A heapable sequence is a sequence of numbers that can be arranged in a min-heap data structure. Finding a longest heapable subsequence of a given sequence was proposed by Byers, Heeringa, Mitzenmacher, and Zervas (ANALCO 2011) as a generalization of the well-studied longest increasing subsequence problem and its complexity still remains open. An equivalent formulation of the longest heapable subsequence problem is that of finding a maximum-sized binary tree in a given permutation directed acyclic graph (permutation DAG). In this work, we study parameterized algorithms for both longest heapable subsequence as well as maximum-sized binary tree. We show the following results: 1. The longest heapable subsequence problem can be solved in kO(log k)n time, where k is the number of distinct values in the input sequence. 2. We introduce the alphabet size as a new parameter in the study of computational prob- lems in permutation DAGs. Our result on longest heapable subsequence implies that the maximum-sized binary tree problem in a given permutation DAG is fixed-parameter tractable when parameterized by the alphabet size. 3. We show that the alphabet size with respect to a fixed topological ordering can be com- puted in polynomial time, admits a min-max relation, and has a polyhedral description. 4. We design a fixed-parameter algorithm with run-time wO(w)n for the maximum-sized bi- nary tree problem in undirected graphs when parameterized by treewidth w. Our results make progress towards understanding the complexity of the longest heapable sub- sequence and maximum-sized binary tree in permutation DAGs from the perspective of param- eterized algorithms. We believe that the parameter alphabet size that we introduce is likely to be useful in the context of optimization problems defined over permutation DAGs. 1 Introduction The longest increasing subsequence is a fundamental computational problem that has led to nu- merous discoveries in algorithms as well as combinatorics. The motivation behind this work is a ∗University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Email: [email protected] yPurdue University, Email: {elena-g, kulkar17, lin532, zhu628}@purdue.edu zWest University of Timişoara, Romania, and the e-Austria Research Institute. Email: [email protected] 1 generalization of the longest increasing subsequence problem, known as the longest heapable subse- quence problem, introduced by Byers, Heeringa, Mitzenmacher, and Zervas [BHMZ11]. We begin by defining this problem. A rooted tree whose nodes are labeled with values has the heap prop- erty if the value of every node is at least that of its parent; a sequence of natural numbers is heapable if the elements can be sequentially placed one at a time to form a binary tree with the heap property. For example, the sequence 1; 5; 3; 2; 4 is not heapable while the sequence 1; 3; 3; 2; 4 is heapable. Throughout this work, we will be interested in sequences whose elements are natural numbers. In the longest heapable subsequence problem, the goal is to find a longest heapable sub- sequence of a given sequence. Although the longest increasing subsequence problem is solvable in polynomial-time, the complexity of the longest heapable subsequence problem is still open. The problem of verifying if a given sequence is heapable, although non-trivial, is solvable effi- ciently using a greedy approach [BHMZ11]. In order to address the longest heapable subsequence problem, Porfilio [Por15] observed a connection to a graph problem on directed acyclic graphs (DAGs). The permutation DAG associated with a sequence σ = (σ(1); σ(2); : : : ; σ(n)), denoted PermDAG(σ), is obtained by introducing a vertex ti for every sequence element i 2 [n], and arcs (tj; ti) for every i; j 2 [n] such that i < j and σ(i) ≤ σ(j). We recall that a directed graph G is a permutation DAG if there exists a sequence τ such that G is isomorphic to PermDAG(τ). We need the notion of a binary tree in a given directed graph G: a subgraph T of G is an r-rooted binary tree if r is the unique vertex in T with no outgoing edges, every vertex in T has a unique directed path to r in T , and every vertex in T has in-degree at most 2 in T ; the size of T is the number of vertices in T . Porfilio showed that a longest heapable subsequence of a given sequence σ is equivalent to a maximum-sized binary tree in PermDAG(σ). This result raises the question of whether one can efficiently find a maximum-sized binary tree in a given permutation DAG. The complexity of this problem also remains open. In an earlier work [CGI+20], we showed that maximum-sized binary tree in arbitrary input directed graphs is fixed-parameter tractable when parameterized by the solution size: we gave a 2knO(1) time algorithm, where k is the size of the largest binary tree and n is the number of vertices in the input graph. This also implies that the longest heapable subsequence problem is fixed-parameter tractable when parameterized by the solution size. In this work, we consider two alternative parameterizations for the maximum-sized binary tree/longest heapable subsequence problem. Firstly, we show that the longest heapable subsequence problem is fixed-parameter tractable when parameterized by the number of distinct values in the input sequence. Next, we introduce alphabet size as a new parameter in the study of computational problems in permutation DAGs. Our algorithmic result for longest heapable subsequence problem implies that the maximum-sized binary tree problem in a given permutation DAG is fixed-parameter tractable when parameterized by the alphabet size. We currently do not know how to compute the alphabet size of a given permutation DAG. As a stepping stone towards computing alphabet size, we show that alphabet size with respect to a fixed topological ordering can be computed efficiently and it also admits a min-max relation and a polyhedral description. Our results suggest that alphabet size is an interesting parameterization for computational problems defined on permutation DAGs and merits a thorough study. Finally, we design a fixed-parameter algorithm for the maximum-sized binary tree problem in undirected graphs when parameterized by treewidth. We elaborate on our contributions now. 2 1.1 Results Our first result shows that the longest heapable subsequence problem is fixed-parameter tractable when parameterized by the number of distinct values in the sequence. Theorem 1. There exists an algorithm that takes as input an n-length sequence τ with k distinct values and returns a longest heapable subsequence of τ in time (k + 1)! · k · O(n). Equivalently, our algorithm returns a maximum-sized binary tree in PermDAG(τ). We emphasize that our algorithm also works in the streaming model of computation—i.e., when the input sequence arrives one by one and the algorithm has to find the longest heapable subsequence of the input that has arrived so far (in particular, the algorithm is not allowed to store the entire input sequence). The space complexity of our algorithm is (k + 1)! · k · O(log n) and is logarithmic for constant k. Theorem1 can also be viewed as a fixed-parameter algorithm to find a maximum-sized binary tree in a given permutation DAG when parameterized by alphabet size. We define this parameter now. We note that for a fixed permutation DAG G, there could be several sequences τ such that G(τ) is isomorphic to G. This motivates our parameterization for permutation DAGs: The alphabet size of a permutation DAG G, denoted α(G), is defined as follows (see Figure1 for an example): α(G) := minfk : 9 τ 2 [k]n with PermDAG(τ) being isomorphic to Gg: We recall that directed graphs G = (V; A) and G0 = (V;0 ;A0) are isomorphic if there exists a bijection φ : V 0 ! V such that (u0; v0) 2 A0 if and only if (φ(u0); φ(v0)) 2 A. Theorem1 also implies that there exists an algorithm that takes as input, an n-vertex permutation DAG G and a sequence τ with α(G) = k distinct values such that G(τ) is isomorphic to G and returns a maximum-sized binary tree in G in time (k + 1)! · k · O(n). b a d c G a b c d c a d b PermDAG(τ1 = (2; 3; 1; 2)) PermDAG(τ2 = (2; 1; 2; 1)) Figure 1: Let G be the input permuation DAG. The graph G is isomorphic to PermDAG(τ1) and PermDAG(τ2). The sequence τ1 = (2; 1; 2; 1) uses only two distinct values, which turns out to be the minimum, so α(G) = 2. Next, we explore algorithmic aspects of our newly defined parameter, namely the alphabet size. A natural question is whether the alphabet size of a given permutation DAG can be computed in polynomial-time. Currently, we do not know the answer to this question. However, there is a natural related problem that seems like a stepping stone towards resolving the complexity of computing the alphabet size of permutation DAGs. We define this related problem now. 3 We recall that every DAG G = (V; A) admits a topological ordering—a bijection γ : V ! [n] corresponding to a permutation of its n vertices such that every arc (v; u) 2 A has γ(u) < γ(v) (i.e., all edges are oriented in the backward direction with respect to the ordering defined by γ).
Recommended publications
  • On Computing Longest Paths in Small Graph Classes
    On Computing Longest Paths in Small Graph Classes Ryuhei Uehara∗ Yushi Uno† July 28, 2005 Abstract The longest path problem is to find a longest path in a given graph. While the graph classes in which the Hamiltonian path problem can be solved efficiently are widely investigated, few graph classes are known to be solved efficiently for the longest path problem. For a tree, a simple linear time algorithm for the longest path problem is known. We first generalize the algorithm, and show that the longest path problem can be solved efficiently for weighted trees, block graphs, and cacti. We next show that the longest path problem can be solved efficiently on some graph classes that have natural interval representations. Keywords: efficient algorithms, graph classes, longest path problem. 1 Introduction The Hamiltonian path problem is one of the most well known NP-hard problem, and there are numerous applications of the problems [17]. For such an intractable problem, there are two major approaches; approximation algorithms [20, 2, 35] and algorithms with parameterized complexity analyses [15]. In both approaches, we have to change the decision problem to the optimization problem. Therefore the longest path problem is one of the basic problems from the viewpoint of combinatorial optimization. From the practical point of view, it is also very natural approach to try to find a longest path in a given graph, even if it does not have a Hamiltonian path. However, finding a longest path seems to be more difficult than determining whether the given graph has a Hamiltonian path or not.
    [Show full text]
  • Approximating the Maximum Clique Minor and Some Subgraph Homeomorphism Problems
    Approximating the maximum clique minor and some subgraph homeomorphism problems Noga Alon1, Andrzej Lingas2, and Martin Wahlen2 1 Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv. [email protected] 2 Department of Computer Science, Lund University, 22100 Lund. [email protected], [email protected], Fax +46 46 13 10 21 Abstract. We consider the “minor” and “homeomorphic” analogues of the maximum clique problem, i.e., the problems of determining the largest h such that the input graph (on n vertices) has a minor isomorphic to Kh or a subgraph homeomorphic to Kh, respectively, as well as the problem of finding the corresponding subgraphs. We term them as the maximum clique minor problem and the maximum homeomorphic clique problem, respectively. We observe that a known result of Kostochka and √ Thomason supplies an O( n) bound on the approximation factor for the maximum clique minor problem achievable in polynomial time. We also provide an independent proof of nearly the same approximation factor with explicit polynomial-time estimation, by exploiting the minor separator theorem of Plotkin et al. Next, we show that another known result of Bollob´asand Thomason √ and of Koml´osand Szemer´ediprovides an O( n) bound on the ap- proximation factor for the maximum homeomorphic clique achievable in γ polynomial time. On the other hand, we show an Ω(n1/2−O(1/(log n) )) O(1) lower bound (for some constant γ, unless N P ⊆ ZPTIME(2(log n) )) on the best approximation factor achievable efficiently for the maximum homeomorphic clique problem, nearly matching our upper bound.
    [Show full text]
  • Downloaded the Biochemical Pathways Information from the Saccharomyces Genome Database (SGD) [29], Which Contains for Each Enzyme of S
    Algorithms 2015, 8, 810-831; doi:10.3390/a8040810 OPEN ACCESS algorithms ISSN 1999-4893 www.mdpi.com/journal/algorithms Article Finding Supported Paths in Heterogeneous Networks y Guillaume Fertin 1;*, Christian Komusiewicz 2, Hafedh Mohamed-Babou 1 and Irena Rusu 1 1 LINA, UMR CNRS 6241, Université de Nantes, Nantes 44322, France; E-Mails: [email protected] (H.M.-B.); [email protected] (I.R.) 2 Institut für Softwaretechnik und Theoretische Informatik, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin D-10587, Germany; E-Mail: [email protected] y This paper is an extended version of our paper published in the Proceedings of the 11th International Symposium on Experimental Algorithms (SEA 2012), Bordeaux, France, 7–9 June 2012, originally entitled “Algorithms for Subnetwork Mining in Heterogeneous Networks”. * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +33-2-5112-5824. Academic Editor: Giuseppe Lancia Received: 17 June 2015 / Accepted: 29 September 2015 / Published: 9 October 2015 Abstract: Subnetwork mining is an essential issue in the analysis of biological, social and communication networks. Recent applications require the simultaneous mining of several networks on the same or a similar vertex set. That is, one searches for subnetworks fulfilling different properties in each input network. We study the case that the input consists of a directed graph D and an undirected graph G on the same vertex set, and the sought pattern is a path P in D whose vertex set induces a connected subgraph of G. In this context, three concrete problems arise, depending on whether the existence of P is questioned or whether the length of P is to be optimized: in that case, one can search for a longest path or (maybe less intuitively) a shortest one.
    [Show full text]
  • On Digraph Width Measures in Parameterized Algorithmics (Extended Abstract)
    On Digraph Width Measures in Parameterized Algorithmics (extended abstract) Robert Ganian1, Petr Hlinˇen´y1, Joachim Kneis2, Alexander Langer2, Jan Obdrˇz´alek1, and Peter Rossmanith2 1 Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic {xganian1,hlineny,obdrzalek}@fi.muni.cz 2 Theoretical Computer Science, RWTH Aachen University, Germany {kneis,langer,rossmani}@cs.rwth-aachen.de Abstract. In contrast to undirected width measures (such as tree- width or clique-width), which have provided many important algo- rithmic applications, analogous measures for digraphs such as DAG- width or Kelly-width do not seem so successful. Several recent papers, e.g. those of Kreutzer–Ordyniak, Dankelmann–Gutin–Kim, or Lampis– Kaouri–Mitsou, have given some evidence for this. We support this di- rection by showing that many quite different problems remain hard even on graph classes that are restricted very beyond simply having small DAG-width. To this end, we introduce new measures K-width and DAG- depth. On the positive side, we also note that taking Kant´e’s directed generalization of rank-width as a parameter makes many problems fixed parameter tractable. 1 Introduction The very successful concept of graph tree-width was introduced in the context of the Graph Minors project by Robertson and Seymour [RS86,RS91], and it turned out to be very useful for efficiently solving graph problems. Tree-width is a property of undirected graphs. In this paper we will be interested in directed graphs or digraphs. Naturally, a width measure specifically tailored to digraphs with all the nice properties of tree-width would be tremendously useful. The properties of such a measure should include at least the following: i) The width measure is small on many interesting instances.
    [Show full text]
  • Optimal Longest Paths by Dynamic Programming∗
    Optimal Longest Paths by Dynamic Programming∗ Tomáš Balyo1, Kai Fieger1, and Christian Schulz1,2 1 Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany {tomas.balyo, christian.schulz}@kit.edu, fi[email protected] 2 University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria [email protected] Abstract We propose an optimal algorithm for solving the longest path problem in undirected weighted graphs. By using graph partitioning and dynamic programming, we obtain an algorithm that is significantly faster than other state-of-the-art methods. This enables us to solve instances that have previously been unsolved. 1998 ACM Subject Classification G.2.2 Graph Theory Keywords and phrases Longest Path, Graph Partitioning Digital Object Identifier 10.4230/LIPIcs.SEA.2017. 1 Introduction The longest path problem (LP) is to find a simple path of maximum length between two given vertices of a graph where length is defined as the number of edges or the total weight of the edges in the path. The problem is known to be NP-complete [5] and has several applications such as designing circuit boards [8, 7], project planning [2], information retrieval [15] or patrolling algorithms for multiple robots in graphs [9]. For example, when designing circuit boards where the length difference between wires has to be kept small [8, 7], the longest path problem manifests itself when the length of shorter wires is supposed to be increased. Another example application is project planning/scheduling where the problem can be used to determine the least amount of time that a project could be completed in [2]. We organize the rest of paper as follows.
    [Show full text]
  • Subexponential Parameterized Algorithms
    Subexponential parameterized algorithms Frederic Dorn∗, Fedor V. Fomin?, and Dimitrios M. Thilikos?? Abstract. We present a series of techniques for the design of subexpo- nential parameterized algorithms for graph problems. The design of such algorithms usually consists of two main steps: first find a branch- (or tree-) decomposition of the input graph whose width is bounded by a sublinear function of the parameter and, second, use this decomposition to solve the problem in time that is single exponential to this bound. The main tool for the first step is Bidimensionality Theory. Here we present the potential, but also the boundaries, of this theory. For the second step, we describe recent techniques, associating the analysis of sub-exponential algorithms to combinatorial√ bounds related to Catalan numbers. As a result, we have 2O( k) · nO(1) time algorithms for a wide variety of parameterized problems on graphs, where n is the size of the graph and k is the parameter. 1 Introduction The theory of fixed-parameter algorithms and parameterized complexity has been thoroughly developed during the last two decades; see e.g. the books [23, 27, 35]. Usually, parameterizing a problem on graphs is to consider its input as a pair consisting of the graph G itself and a parameter k. Typical examples of such parameters are the size of a vertex cover, the length of a path or the size of a dominating set. Roughly speaking, a parameterized problem in graphs with parameter k is fixed parameter tractable if there is an algorithm solving the problem in f(k) · nO(1) steps for some function f that depends only on the parameter.
    [Show full text]
  • Longest Paths in Partial 2-Trees
    Nonempty Intersection of Longest Paths in Series-Parallel Graphs 1, 2,‡ 1, ,† Julia Ehrenmüller ∗, Cristina G. Fernandes , and Carl Georg Heise ∗ 1Institut für Mathematik, Technische Universität Hamburg-Harburg, Germany, {julia.ehrenmueller,carl.georg.heise}@tuhh.de 2Institute of Mathematics and Statistics, University of São Paulo, Brazil, [email protected] October 31, 2018 In 1966 Gallai asked whether all longest paths in a connected graph have nonempty intersection. This is not true in general and various counterexamples have been found. However, the answer to Gallai’s question is positive for several well-known classes of graphs, as for instance connected outerplanar graphs, connected split graphs, and 2-trees. A graph is series-parallel if it does not contain K4 as a minor. Series-parallel graphs are also known as partial 2-trees, which are arbitrary subgraphs of 2-trees. We present a proof that every connected series-parallel graph has a vertex that is common to all of its longest paths. Since 2-trees are maximal series-parallel graphs, and outerplanar graphs are also series-parallel, our result captures these two classes in one proof and strengthens them to a larger class of graphs. We also describe how this vertex can be found in linear time. 1 Introduction A path in a graph is a longest path if there exists no other path in the same graph that is strictly longer. The study of intersections of longest paths has a long history and, in particular, the question of whether every connected graph has a vertex that is common to all of its longest paths was raised by Gallai [12] in 1966.
    [Show full text]
  • Efficient Algorithms for the Longest Path Problem
    Efficient Algorithms for the Longest Path Problem Ryuhei UEHARA (JAIST) Yushi UNO (Osaka Prefecture University) 2005/3/1 NHC@Kyoto http://www.jaist.ac.jp/~uehara/ps/longest.pdf The Longest Path Problem z Finding a longest (vertex disjoint) path in a given graph z Motivation (comparing to Hamiltonian path): … Approx. Algorithm, Parameterized Complexity … More practical/natural … More difficult(?) 2005/3/1 NHC@Kyoto http://www.jaist.ac.jp/~uehara/ps/longest.pdf The Longest Path Problem z Known (hardness) results; ε z We cannot find a path of length n-n in a given Hamiltonian graph in poly-time unless P=NP [Karger, Motwani, Ramkumar; 1997] z We can find O(log n) length path [Alon, Yuster, Zwick;1995] (⇒O((log n/loglog n)2) [Björklund, Husfeldt; 2003]) z Approx. Alg. achieves O(n/log n) [AYZ95] (⇒O(n(loglog n/log n)2)[BH03]) z Exponential algorithm [Monien 1985] 2005/3/1 NHC@Kyoto http://www.jaist.ac.jp/~uehara/ps/longest.pdf The Longest Path Problem z Known polynomial time algorithm; ¾ Dijkstra’s Alg.(196?):Linear alg. for finding a longest path in a tree; 2005/3/1 NHC@Kyoto http://www.jaist.ac.jp/~uehara/ps/longest.pdf The Longest Path Problem z Known polynomial time algorithm; ¾ Dijkstra’s Alg.(196?):Linear alg. for finding a longest path in a tree; 2005/3/1 NHC@Kyoto http://www.jaist.ac.jp/~uehara/ps/longest.pdf The Longest Path Problem z Known polynomial time algorithm; ¾ Dijkstra’s Alg.(196?):Linear alg. for finding a longest path in a tree; 2005/3/1 NHC@Kyoto http://www.jaist.ac.jp/~uehara/ps/longest.pdf The Longest Path Problem z Known polynomial time algorithm; ¾ Dijkstra’s Alg.(196?):Linear alg.
    [Show full text]
  • Subexponential Parameterized Algorithms for Planar and Apex-Minor-Free Graphs Via Low Treewidth Pattern Covering
    Subexponential parameterized algorithms for planar and apex-minor-free graphs via low treewidth pattern covering Fedor V. Fomin∗, Daniel Lokshtanov∗,Daniel´ Marxy, Marcin Pilipczukz, Michał Pilipczukz, and Saket Saurabh∗ ∗Department of Informatics, University of Bergen, Norway, Emails: fomin|daniello|[email protected]. yInstitute for Computer Science and Control, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA SZTAKI), Hungary, Email: [email protected]. zInstitute of Informatics, University of Warsaw, Poland, Emails: marcin.pilipczuk|[email protected]. xInstitute of Mathematical Sciences, India, Email: [email protected]. Abstract—We prove the following theorem. Given a planar I. INTRODUCTION graph G and an integer k, it is possible in polynomial time to randomly sample a subset A of vertices of G with the following Most of the natural NP-hard problems on graphs remain properties: NP-hard even when the input graph is restricted to be p • A induces a subgraph of G of treewidth O( k log k), and planar. However, it was realized already in the dawn of • for every connected subgraph H of G on at most k algorithm design that the planarity of the input can be vertices, the probability that A covers the whole vertex p 2 exploited algorithmically. Using the classic planar separator set of H is at least (2O( k log k) · nO(1))−1, where n is theorem of Lipton and Tarjan [1], one can design algorithmsp the number of vertices of G. O( n) workingp in subexponential time, usually of the form 2 O( n log n) Together with standard dynamic programming techniques for or 2 , for a wide variety of problems that behave graphs of bounded treewidth, this result gives a versatile well with respect to separators; such running time cannot technique for obtaining (randomized) subexponential param- be achieved on general graph unless the Exponential Time eterized algorithms for problemsp on planar graphs, usually O( k log2 k) O(1) Hypothesis (ETH) fails [2].
    [Show full text]
  • A Note on the Complexity of Longest Path Problems Related to Graph Coloring
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Elsevier - Publisher Connector Available at Applied www.ElsevierMathematics.com DIRECT. Mathematics Letters Applied Mathematics Letters 17 (2004) 13-15 www.elsevier.com/locate/aml A Note on the Complexity of Longest Path Problems Related to Graph Coloring P. M. PARDALOS Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, 303 Weil Hall University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, U.S.A. A. MIGDALAS Department of Production Engineering and Management Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Greece (Received February 2002; revised and accepted May 2003) Abstract-In this note, we show that some problems related to the length of the longest simple path from a given vertex in a graph are NP-complete. We also discuss an extension to the graph coloring problem. @ 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords-Longest path, Graph coloring, Complexity. 1. INTRODUCTION Let G = (V, E) be a connected graph and let p(v) d enote the length of a longest simple path in G starting from vertex ZI E V. In this note, we mainly address the following questions. 1. What is the complexity of computing p(u)? 2. What, is the complexity of computing IY = max(,Ev) p(w)? 3. What is the complexity of computing y = min(,,v) p(w)? The interest these problems arises from the fact that if x(G) d enotes the chromatic number of G, then x(G) 2 1 + y. This generalizes the well-known result of Gallai, which states that x(G) < 1 + m(G), where m(G) denotes the length of a longest path in G [l].
    [Show full text]
  • Longest Path in a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG)
    Longest path in a directed acyclic graph (DAG) Mumit Khan CSE 221 April 10, 2011 The longest path problem is the problem of finding a simple path of maximal length in a graph; in other words, among all possible simple paths in the graph, the problem is to find the longest one. For an unweighted graph, it suffices to find the longest path in terms of the number of edges; for a weighted graph, one must use the edge weights instead. To explain the process of developing this algorithm, we’ll first develop an algorithm for computing the single-source longest path for an unweighted directed acyclic graph (DAG), and then generalize that to compute the longest path in a DAG, both unweighted or weighted. We’ve already seen how to compute the single-source shortest path in a graph, cylic or acyclic — we used BFS to compute the single-source shortest paths for an unweighted graph, and used Dijkstra (non-negative edge weights only) or Bellman-Ford (negative edge weights allowed) for a weighted graph without negative cycles. If we needed the shortest path between all pairs, we could always run the single-source shortest path algorithm using each vertex as the source; but of course there is Floyd-Warshall ready to do just that. The use of dynamic programming or a greedy algorithm is made possible by the fact the shortest path problem has optimal substructure — the subpaths in the shortest path between two vertices must themselves be the shortest ones! When it comes to finding the longest path however, we find that the problem does not have optimal substructure, and we lose the ability to use dynamic programming (and of course greedy strategy as well!).
    [Show full text]
  • Depth-First Search, Topological Sort
    And, for the hous is crinkled to and fro, And hath so queinte weyes for to go— For hit is shapen as the mase is wroght— Therto have I a remedie in my thoght, That, by a clewe of twyne, as he hath goon, The same wey he may returne anoon, Folwing alwey the threed, as he hath come. — Geoffrey Chaucer, The Legend of Good Women (c. 1385) Una lámpara ilustraba el andén, pero las caras de los niños quedaban en la zona de la sombra. Uno me interrogó: ¿Usted va a casa del doctor Stephen Albert?. Sin aguardar contestación, otro dijo: La casa queda lejos de aquí, pero usted no se perderá si toma ese camino a la izquierda y en cada encrucijada del camino dobla a la izquierda. — Jorge Luis Borges, “El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan” (1941) “Com’è bello il mondo e come sono brutti i labirinti!” dissi sollevato. “Come sarebbe bello il mondo se ci fosse una regola per girare nei labirinti,” rispose il mio maestro. — Umberto Eco, Il nome della rosa (1980) Chapter 6 Depth-First Search Status: Beta. Could add more, but don’t. In the previous chapter, we considered a generic algorithm—whatever-first search— for traversing arbitrary graphs, both undirected and directed. In this chapter, we focus on a particular instantiation of this algorithm called depth-first search, and primarily on the behavior of this algorithm in directed graphs. Rather than using an explicit stack, depth-first search is normally implemented recursively as follows: DFS(v): if v is unmarked mark v for each edge v w DFS(w) We can make this algorithm slightly faster (in practice) by checking whether a node is marked before we recursively explore it.
    [Show full text]